Allard Announces Victory for Domestic Energy Production

Press Release

U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.) announced today that last night the Congress began actions to lift the ill-conceived moratorium on off-shore drilling and removing a ban on issuing regulations on oil shale. Opposition to the oil shale regulation moratorium originally proposed by Congressman Udall is an issue Allard has championed for over a year.

"The Congress has realized the error of their ways by removing the oil shale moratorium," said Allard. "It was a mistake to the put the moratorium in last year and it would be a mistake to keep it in this year. This has finally been made clear to the Democrat leadership. A common sense approach to securing Colorado's economic future and our nation's energy independence dictates that we safely, cleanly, and efficiently explore and develop our available resources and we can now -- finally -- begin to do so."

The oil shale found in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming could yield between 800 billion and 1.8 trillion barrels of oil. This is more than the proven reserves of Saudi Arabia and could contribute to driving gas prices down and bring America closer to energy independence in an environmentally friendly way.

"Obviously there is still much work to do on this issue but hopefully the Democrat party's return to reason is not an election time gambit and we can continue to expeditiously and safely develop these resources for the benefit of Colorado and America."